The holiday season is usually a busy time. But it is so important to make memories with your children and loved ones. I remember reading the gingerbread story to my kids when they were little. I wasn't much of a baker, but we would go to the bakery and they would pick one out. Sometimes my cousin Joanie would bring her freshly baked cookies to us. My daughter and I go shopping every year for gingerbread ornaments. We have so many! So I want to share just a few things you can do with your kids at the holidays. When my kids were little, I would make lots of apple juice from frozen concentrate and I would save the lids. I got a coffe can and cut an opening in the lid. Then I would give my son Daniel the jucie lids and have him put them though the slit in the coffee can. He liked the clink it made as the lid hit the bottom of the can. He also loved to shake the can and hear the noise! It kept him busy and gave me time to cook dinner or fold clothes. Then one Thanksgiving, I wanted to do a craft that my boys and their cousins could do, and this is what I came up with: Juice Can Ornaments You will need 1 juice can lid for each child. (You can substitute with a heavy piece of cardboard ) Assorted holiday plaid ribbon 3/4-1 inch wide cut into 3 inch strips 1 small photo of your child, the upper part of the body is best. look so you can hand the ornament. Place the lid on a piece of construction cardboard and cut out a circle for each lid. Center the lid over the picture and draw a circle on the picture. Cut around the circle.Glue the picture in the middle of the lid. Glue each ribbon at one end at glue to the back if the lid. Go all around the lid. Glue the mini ribbon to the top of the lid behind the ribbon. Put glue on the cardboard and glue to the back of the lid. Name and date the back of the cardboard. You can put a small amount of glue around the outer edge of the picture and sprinkle with glue. Shake the excess off. You can aslo put baby rickrack around the outer edge. If you are working with young kids, have everything prepared to go and place items in individual sandwich bags. This is a fun thing to do and a great memory maker. Ginger Bread Felt Ornaments Find a picture of a gingerbread. Trace around it to get the shape. Place the shape over a piece of brown felt. Cut out two pieces for each child. Glue the outer part of the body together and let it dry. Then open the next and fill the gingerbread with a cinnamon apple potpourri.On the inside of the back of the gingerbread, glue a small ribbon that is tied so thatiyou can hang the ornament, Now glue the head closed. Decorate the gingerbread with fabric markers. You can glue on white babv rickrack. Don't forget to date it! Clay Recipe For Christmas Ornaments 4 c. flour 1 c. salt 1 tsp. powdered alum 1 1/2 c. water Mix ingredients well in a large bowl. Bake ornaments on ungreased cookie sheets for about 30 minutes in a 250 degree oven. Turn and bake another 1 1/2 hours until hard and dry. Remove and cool. Sand lightly with fine sandpaper until smooth. Paint with poster, or acrylic paint or markers. Allow to dry then seal with clear shellac, spray plastic or clear nail polish. Makes 5 dozen 2 1/2" ornaments. Gingerbread Scented Ornaments 4 oz. can (about 1 c.) cinnamon 1 tbsp. cloves 1 tbsp. nutmeg 3/4 c. applesauce 2 tbsp. white glue In medium bowl, combine cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. Add applesauce and glue; stir to combine. Work mixture with hands 2 to 3 minutes or until dough is smooth and ingredients are thoroughly mixed. Divide into 4 portions. Roll out each dough portion to 1/4 inch thickness. Cut dough with cookie cutters. Using straw or toothpick, make small hole in top of ornament. Place cut out ornaments on wire rack to dry. Allow several days to dry, turning ornaments over once each day. Use these ornaments to decorate gifts, hang on tree, etc. Gingerbread Family This is very easy. Trace a ginger bread on brown cardboard box. Trace one for each family member. Take a picture of each person's face. After developing, cut the face to fit the gingerbreads face. Decorate the gingerbread family with material , ribbon, buttons, white baby rickrack and hang on a wreath or along garland over the fireplace. This is a great idea for a daycare center or preschool. Decorative Candy Jar This is real easy to do and very inexpensive. Purchase a glass bowl, or used jars with lids. Fill the cleaned glass with Christmas candy. Cut out a round piece of material that will cover the lids. You will want to cut it out so that the material extends below the top of the jar by 2 inches os so, depending how tall the jar is. Christmas Fabric is fine unless you want to have the jar year round. Then you can use a country print or something that matched their Kitchen deco. After you place the cloth cover,tie with ribbon or raffia so that the ribbon hold the material in place. You can also attach a mini ornament or decoration to the center of the bow. Don't forget to add a little gift card. Gift Bags Brown paper lunch bags can hold a variety of gifts. There are a numbers of ways to decorate the bags. You can use rubber stamps or stencils. You can glue pieces of holiday fabric to the bag. I use craft scissors to cut along the top of my bag. Punch two holes along the top and tie with ribbon or raffia Your local grocer will usually have the larger bags you can use for larger gifts. One year I purchased 50 medium brown bags for around a couple of dollars and use them at a craft show. Each person who purchased something got a bag that I had rubber stamped and they said they would use the bag for gift giving. Home Made gifts and wrap give a nostalgic feel to the holidays or any time of the year. Go to the next page for a step by step ornament project. 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